Piedmont Historic Homes

Even though interest rates have chilled the housing market, there are still historic homes that sell as soon as they’re put up for sale, sometimes at irrational prices (like this one and this one — great houses, quick sales, wild prices). And, then, there are those that don’t. Here are six historic homes that have been listed for more than six months, all unsold.

In some cases, it’s easy to see why. Some of these are mansions — houses 4,000 square feet and up. They typically take longer to sell than more reasonably sized homes, although a few here and there sell quite quickly (especially in Winston-Salem). Sometimes price is an obvious reason, even in these days of $350 or $400 per square foot for bungalows. In other cases, it’s impossible to tell from the listings what the problem is. And with old houses, there’s no end to the possibilities.

Click on the links for more information about each house.

329 W. Pine Street, Mount Airy, Surry County
The Robert Hines House
Listing withdrawn October 1, 2023; relisted October 3, 2023
Listing withdrawn December 4, 2023; relisted December 9, 2023
Sale pending June 21, 2024
No longer under contract June 24, 2024

• $325,000 (originally $349,000, later $299,000)
• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,859 square feet, 0.61 acre
• Price/square foot: $114
• Built in 1900 (per county) or ca. 1890 (NR nomination)
• Listed March 22, 2023
• Last sale: $55,000, November 1986
• Neighborhood: Mount Airy Historic District (local and NR)

District NR nomination: “Good examples of the Italianate style are scattered throughout the district and include … the Robert Hines House at 329 West Pine Street …”

After 15 months, the owner accepted an offer in June. Three days later, the deal was off. This house, obviously, needs some work, but the price more than reflects that ($114/square foot!). Great old house, big lot, nice neighborhood. Something is keeping this one from being sold, but what?

225 S. Main Street, Kernersville, Forsyth County
The Rephelius Byron Kerner House
Listing withdrawn May 1, 2024
Relisted May 17, 2024

• $465,000
• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3,096 square feet, 0.26 acre
• Price/square foot; $150
• Built in 1870
• Listed October 18, 2023
• Last sale: October 2007, price not recorded on deed (sold by the nonprofit next door)
• Neighborhood: South Main Street Historic District (NR)
• Note: Located next to the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden

“He had a beautiful, we might almost say, an elegant home.” The Raleigh Christian Advocate, in its obituary for Rephelius Kerner.

Again, the relatively low price per square foot reflects the need for some interior work, though it doesn’t look too daunting. This is one of the Korner/Kerner family homes in Kernersville. Rephelius Byron Kerner (1849-1881) was a great-grandson of Joseph Kerner. He was a cousin of Julius Gilmer Korner (1851-1924), aka Reuben Rink, the renowned commercial artist and builder of Korner’s Folly. The Folly and “seven other Kerner/Korner houses – substantial, architecturally significant Greek Revival and Italianate two-story brick houses dating from 1857 to 1889 – face one another across South Main Street. These houses are a testament to the importance of the successive generations of Kerners to the growth of Kernersville in the nineteenth century.”

303 Main Street West, Yanceyville, Caswell County
The S.T. Richmond House, aka the Sallie Martin House
Blog post — Four Houses with Infamous Pasts, Including a Triple Murder
MLS listing withdrawn February 15, 2024
Relisted April 1, 2024

• $350,000 (originally $399,500)
• 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 1,164 square feet, 0.46 acre
• Price/square foot: $301
• Built in 1840
• Listed November 3, 2023
• Last sale: $95,000, June 2019
• Neighborhood: Yanceyville Historic District (NR)

A 2005 Yanceyville walking guide identifies the house as the home of Dr. Stephen Trib Richmond (1824-1878), a physician and pharmacist. “Dr. Richmond was a Klansman, named by John G. Lea in his posthumously published confession of the murder of Senator John W. Stephens. Today it is popularly known as the Sallie Martin House, a later owner.”

I think the price is more of an obstacle to selling this house than the shameful life of its owner 150 years ago. $301/square foot is way out of line for a house in Yanceyville. But, then, “way out of line” hasn’t stopped other historic houses from being sold lately.

504 Emerywood Drive, High Point
The Crews-Thomas House
Listing withdrawn October 19, 2022; relisted June 17, 2023
Sale pending October 11-31, 2022
Listing withdrawn May 23, 2024
Relisted June 6, 2024

• $725,000 (originally $750,000, later $785,000)
• 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, 4,773 square feet (per county), 0.39 acre
• Price/square foot: $152
• Built in 1926
• Listed October 8, 2022
• Last sale: $210,000, October 1988
• Neighborhood: Emerywood, Uptown Suburbs Historic District (local and NR)
• Note: The property includes a carriage house with 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a kitchenette.

This is a classic mid-1920s Tudor Revival in High Point’s most historically interesting neighborhood at a bargain-basement $152/square foot. Originally owned by a doctor, since 1956 it has been owned by members of the Thomas family of Thomas Built Buses. Whatever the problem is here, it doesn’t show up in the listing.

802 S. Main Street, Reidsville, Rockingham County
Melrose, the Hugh Reid Scott House

• $795,000 (originally $895,000)
• 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 half-bathrooms, 5,316 square feet (per county), 2.96 acres
• Price/square foot: $150
• Built in 1909
• Listed August 25, 2023
• Last sale: $420,000, March 2019
• Neighborhood: Old Post Road Historic District (local), Reidsville Historic District (NR)

District NR nomination: “Certainly the most notable feature of the house is the monumental Ionic projecting portico with balustraded flat roof. A one-story porch supported by smaller Ionic columns begins on the south elevation, spans the three-bay facade, and continues on the north elevation to a porte cochere.”

It’s hard to find an early 20th century mansion more grand than this, and for sale, no less. The relatively modest price reflects Reidsville’s status as not as hot a market as, say, Mebane or Siler City. But still, unless there’s something deeply disappointing in the mechanical or structural inspection, this is going to be the bargain of the year if it ever sells.

2900 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem
The Benjamin and Josephine Huntley House, Huntlyholme

• $2.4 million (originally $3 million)
• 9 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms 2 half-bathrooms, 9,318 square feet, 1.82 acres
• Price/square foot: $258
• Built in 1924
• Listed August 11, 2023
• Last sale: $130,000, June 1976
• Neighborhood: Westview

Designed by designed by architects Charles Barton Keen and William Roy Wallace. Original landscaping by Thomas Sears.

The 11-bay, stucco Georgian mansion “features slightly projecting hip-roofed bays flanking the central section. A classical surround with fluted pilasters and an arched pediment frames the primary entrance. Three hipped dormers and brick interior chimneys with tall corbelled stacks pierce the Ludowici-Celadon green tile roof above a modillion cornice.” (Winston-Salem’s Architectural Heritage)

A spectacular house with an interesting history. What more could you want from a mansion in Winston-Salem? Sometimes size works against a mansion’s prospects, though. There just aren’t many buyers looking for 9,000 square feet. Not even billionaire Roy Carroll wants a house that big.